193: birthday gift

The elective courses that had troubled the students for a week finally had their lists confirmed.

Li Xuangan, Teacher Li also finally let out a sigh of relief; course selection was over.

The other teachers, however, sighed; there was no more excitement to watch! Watching other people's drama was quite interesting, and they wondered what else would happen at the training camp later.

Among the four elective courses, Teacher Bai Xiaobai's had the most students, with 38; Teacher Bai Shan's had the fewest, with only 21 students; while the numbers for Summer and Qian Yonglu were similar, with 24 and 25 students respectively.

There was no other way; the two Teacher Bais targeted the same students, and in the end, Bai Xiaobai still had the upper hand.

Sure enough, the boss's skill of 'painting a grand vision' was useful.

The reason why the boss's 'grand vision' was not useful was simply because their painted visions were unattainable, while Xu Bai's painted vision allowed them to achieve it.

Xu Bai's action left a deep impression on the minds of all the teachers, who might have already jotted it down in their notebooks.

Perhaps their future students and research institutes would also be treated to their painted grand visions...

In the past two days, people at the training camp noticed that Teacher Bai Xiaobai's dark circles were getting heavier.

Facing this situation, the students dared not ask, and the teachers found it difficult to inquire.

The students thought Teacher Bai Xiaobai encountered some difficulties in his research, while the teachers thought he was suffering from a decline in his mental power.

Perhaps only Zhao Zixuan and his two companions knew why.

Because — Xu Le's birthday was approaching.

Xu Bai was preparing a birthday gift for Xu Le.

The three of them were also troubled about what birthday gift to give Xu Le.

Fortunately, in this world, with a pen and a cards, you can create an entire world...

Xu Bai twirled the expensive cards-making pen in his hand. This cards-making pen was the first one he bought when he went out, costing him 1.1 million. This amount was his first high-value purchase in both his lives, making it very memorable.

Although this amount was a drop in the ocean for the current Xu Bai, he would still feel a pang of pain if it were to break.

However, his thoughts were not on his hand at the moment; he habitually twirled the pen, not noticing that he was twirling the one that cost him 1.1 million.

This pen was like Schrödinger's cat; you wouldn't know if it was intact or broken when it stopped.

Fortunately, Xu Bai was experienced; when he thought of the gift he wanted to give Xu Le, the pen was not broken yet.

What gift did Xu Bai think of giving Xu Le?

The answer was a camera.

Xu Bai felt that as Xu Le grew older, he would no longer see him as a child, so he wanted to take photos to preserve his appearance, which he could look at later.

Early cameras were based on the physical phenomenon of pinhole imaging and the chemical process of silver halide photosensitivity.

In essence, it required a controllable darkroom and photosensitive materials.

I believe everyone has seen early movies and can see that cameras looked like boxes.

Xu Bai's deepest impression of this type of camera was when he watched "Funny Face" and the photographer took pictures of the female lead, Audrey Hepburn.

The reason it left a deep impression on him was, of course, not because of the camera, but because the female lead was simply too beautiful.

Who doesn't like Audrey Hepburn?

Back to the main topic, the difficulty in making a camera lies in the photosensitive material.

So he sought out Ai Xunyan; she had researched both exotic beast synthetic materials and plant synthetic materials, and he wondered if any of the materials she possessed met the requirements.

Actually, it was also because he had recently attended some of Ai Xunyan's classes and realized that making cardss might not necessarily require materials identical to those of his previous life; current materials could serve as substitutes.

That's why he thought of looking for Ai Xunyan.

Although in his original world, plants possessed photosensitivity, this ability was merely a regulatory mechanism for life activities and could not record light signals.

The core of photosensitive materials, however, is the need to stably record light signals.

But this is an Another World(otherworld); I wonder if the plants or exotic beast synthetic materials of this otherworld would have the characteristics of photosensitive materials?

...Ai Xunyan: "You've seemed very busy lately. Is there something you suddenly need from me?"

Xu Bai did not beat around the bush but directly stated his purpose in seeking her out.

"I need photosensitive materials for research."

"Photosensitive materials? What are the characteristics of the photosensitive materials you're talking about? I have many materials, but I haven't distinguished whether they are photosensitive materials."

Ai Xunyan was a bit unfamiliar with Xu Bai's term for the material; 'photosensitive material' should be a material category defined by Xu Bai himself.

Xu Bai suddenly realized that there was no such term as 'photosensitive material' at present, so he explained some characteristics of photosensitive materials to her.

"The photosensitive material I envision needs to have three key points:

Firstly, photosensitivity: its core is 'response to light,' which means whether it can perceive light. Specifically, this means the material undergoes an irreversible change under light irradiation, rather than a temporary physical phenomenon like reflection.

Secondly, it needs to have an image recording function: it needs to display an image through its perception of light, and this image needs to be clear and rich in layers.

Thirdly, it needs a certain degree of stability: this stability determines the lifespan of the material."

"Photosensitive material! Photosensitive material!"

After hearing Xu Bai's description, Ai Xunyan murmured to herself.

She hadn't expected materials could be categorized in such a way. Listening to his description, it seemed to have a certain impact on the development of materials science.

"I have many materials, but I've never thought about determining whether they are photosensitive materials before."

"We can conduct tests together. In essence, it just requires controlling variables, then eliminating interference, and detecting that the material's changes are solely caused by light, not by other factors. This way, we can distinguish whether it's a photosensitive material.

Afterward, we need to visually observe the changes produced by light exposure. The core of this is to compare the differences between the light-exposed group and the dark control group.

We can have the students conduct experiments for these first two points.

Then, for advanced tests, the two of us can conduct the experiments."

After speaking, Xu Bai shook his head again, retracting his previous statement.

"No, two people might take a bit too long. How about we find a few more people?

Of course, you can also find your experimental team members, and I'll find my experimental team members.

Since the materials are yours, your share of the experimental results will be larger. As my other product requires photosensitive materials, I can use this material for free on my end. What do you think?"

"Sounds good."

Ai Xunyan did not hesitate and immediately agreed.

"Then, without further ado, you should make the arrangements quickly. It's best if we can find usable photosensitive materials within these two days."

After their discussion, the two went together to find the head of the training camp.

After all, their experiment still required the head's approval.

Li Xuangan, Teacher Li had no objections to this, as this experiment would allow students to participate and would also benefit them.